DCS Multiserve: Accents in the Workplace

DCS Multiserve: Accents in the Workplace

Whether we love it or hate it, people around the United Kingdom have different accents. What are the attitudes towards them, and what impact do they have on employment?

Does your accent determine your employability?

Everyone wants to be treated equally at work, but it seems that a regional accent can determine whether you are or not. This can even decide whether a person is employable or not.

According to a firm law firm in Manchester, 8/10 employers admit to discriminating against a candidate due to their accent.

On one report produced by the Guardian, one teacher said that they were told by employers that they should “sound less Cumbrian”. A school in the West Midlands also recently banned the use of regional slang to ensure they have a fair chance to gain a job in the future – as employers may discriminate.

‘Employable’ accents

Professor Lance Workman, of the University of South Wales, discovered that bosses favour some accents over others and this was reported by Recruiting Times.

The professor also found that those who had the ability to speak the Queen’s English were more likely to be employed due to its association with intelligence. This was linked strongly to perceived levels of intelligence associated with a Queen’s English/RP accent, ahead of other regional accents – the Yorkshire accent was also discovered to be associated with intelligence.

He commented: “Despite changes in attitudes of the general populace to RP, when it comes to recruitment to the elite professions, it is clear that many of those with regional accents are still hitting a class ceiling.”

According to research that was carried out, 16% of people from Birmingham changed their accent in job interviews in fear of being discriminated against as the accent sounds ‘low in intelligence’.

How people view regional accents

Facilities management company DCS Multiserve has provided us with this research to establish how various regional accents are viewed.

There will always be negative and positive feedback on accents around the United Kingdom. In 2013, ComRes and ITV interviewed 2,006 adults in early August, 2,014 adults in mid-August and 2,025 adults in September to determine the attitudes to different regional accents. They discovered that…

28% of people in the United Kingdom feel discriminated against because of the way they speak. 14% feel accent discrimination in the workplace and 12% in job interviews.

In different situations, the discrimination can vary, with 20% also feeling discrimination in social situations and 13% when being served in shops or restaurants too.

Devon accent is perceived as the most ‘friendly’ regional accent

Top five ‘friendly’ accents, as voted by survey participants, were:

  • Devon (65% of votes as ‘friendly’)
  • Newcastle (56% of votes as ‘friendly’)
  • Edinburgh (51% of votes as ‘friendly’)
  • Cardiff (51% of votes as ‘friendly’)
  • Cockney (49% of votes as ‘friendly’)

Liverpool accent is perceived as the most ‘unfriendly’ regional accent

Top five ‘unfriendly’ accents, as voted by survey participants, were:

  • Liverpool (26% of votes as ‘unfriendly’)
  • Belfast (24% of votes as ‘unfriendly’)
  • RP/Queen’s English (23% of votes as ‘unfriendly’)
  • Manchester (21% of votes as ‘unfriendly’)
  • Birmingham (21% of votes as ‘unfriendly’)

RP/Queen’s English is perceived as the most ‘intelligent’ accent

Top five ‘intelligent’ accents, as voted by survey participants, were:

  • RP/Queen’s English (62% of votes as ‘intelligent’)
  • Edinburgh (38% of votes as ‘intelligent’)
  • Devon (28% of votes as ‘intelligent’)
  • Belfast (23% of votes as ‘intelligent’)
  • Cardiff (23% of votes as ‘intelligent’)

Liverpool accent is perceived as the most ‘unintelligent’  accent

Top five ‘unintelligent’ accents, as voted by survey participants, were:

  • Liverpool (37% of votes as ‘unintelligent’)
  • Birmingham (33% of votes as ‘unintelligent’)
  • Cockney (32% of votes as ‘unintelligent’)
  • Newcastle (26% of votes as ‘unintelligent’)
  • Manchester (22% of votes as ‘unintelligent’)

RP/Queen’s English is perceived as the most ‘trustworthy’ accent

Top five ‘trustworthy’ accents, as voted by survey participants, were:

  • RP/Queen’s English (51% of votes as ‘trustworthy’)
  • Devon (51% of votes as ‘trustworthy’)
  • Edinburgh (44% of votes as ‘trustworthy’)
  • Cardiff (37% of votes as ‘trustworthy’)
  • Newcastle (36% of votes as ‘trustworthy’)

Liverpool accent is perceived as the most ‘untrustworthy’ accent

Top five ‘untrustworthy’ accents, as voted by survey participants, were:

  • Liverpool (29% of votes as ‘untrustworthy’)
  • Cockney (24% of votes as ‘untrustworthy’)
  • Belfast (20% of votes as ‘untrustworthy’)
  • Birmingham (17% of votes as ‘untrustworthy’)
  • Manchester (17% of votes as ‘untrustworthy’)

Survey participants were also conscious of being discriminative themselves – 6% admitted to discriminating against someone’s accent in the workplace and 4% in a job interview.

Combat accent discrimination

There are a number of different (and somewhat conflicting) approaches that can be taken to accent discrimination.

There are a few steps that can be taken to avert any accent discrimination. This includes:

Stay clear of using regional slang, but don’t hide your accent – advice from Francesca Turner, a National Careers Service adviser.

Don’t change your accent or the way you speak – advice from Brian Staines, Senior Career Adviser at the University of Bristol.

Embrace your accent – Job minister for Liverpool, Esther McVey, advised people from the North West not to feel intimidated to change their accent. McVey argued that people make a variety of judgements when looking for employees and that “we just need people who reflect other people” and that her accent hadn’t held her back in her career. McVey also added: “I think it can be a colourful accent.”

Combatting accent discrimination as an employer

Employers can sometimes discriminate when choosing a candidate due to their accent. There are a number of ways to avoid this from happening – according to HR Daily Advisor and HMR. Some of these include:

  • Make sure those with accents are not singled out in any way.
  • Make sure all parts of the interviewing process do not discriminate.
  • Try to avoid placing individuals with certain accents in certain roles.
  • Avoid questioning the suitability of certain accents for roles over others.

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